Inner Voice: All Heroines Hear My Inner Voice Chapter 1040: A thief at the Great Tomb of Nazarick

"So cozy..."

Pony immediately flopped down on one of the plush sofas, closing her eyes for a moment to enjoy the warmth of the room—a stark contrast to the cold mountain air from earlier.

Taeko walked beside Eiji, taking in the cabin's interior with a look of amazement. "The interior is incredibly luxurious for a vehicle. Eiji, you could even use this place as a mobile headquarters."

"I was thinking the same thing as Taeko." Cornelia said, glancing at the man beside her.

They all wanted to stay aboard the Astral Express!

Eiji, of course, knew what they were thinking and didn't hesitate to say, "Actually, I do plan to make the Astral Express our group's temporary headquarters. There are plenty of bedrooms on this train for you all to stay in."

It wasn't just Taeko and Cornelia—Akame, Poney, Chelsea, and Tsukushi were excited, too.

Even if it's only temporary, they're happy to stay aboard the Astral Express for a few days, weeks, or maybe even months.

Why just temporarily?

Well, that's because Eiji would still be using the Astral Express to travel to other worlds. He certainly can't let this train stay in just one world.

"We can sleep here, too!?" Poney got up from the sofa, looking delighted.

The sadness over the deaths of Najasho, Green, and Guy vanished from her heart in an instant.

Eiji nodded, "That's right."

He then walked over to the side table in the corner of the room, picked up a teapot, and poured some hot tea into a cup. "Just think of this as your new home. Except for the first car (the control and navigation room), you're free to explore the other cars and look around."

From his inventory, he pulled out a map listing the names of the facilities on the Astral Express and used it on Cornelia. Akame, Chelsea, and the other women immediately gathered around her.

Within half an hour, they were busy exploring the interior of the Astral Express. They even chose their own bedrooms.

Meanwhile, Eiji was relaxing. He drank tea and ate Grayfia's homemade cookies, which he had stored in his inventory. He also took the opportunity to check his rewards from the system.

[Ding! Detected that the host has altered the plot of "Akame Ga Kill."]

[Successfully altered the plot by 18% by killing Babara Oarburgh. In the process, you caused one of his students, Taeko, to betray her.]

[You also prevented Cornelia's death, so she and Taeko didn't kill each other as they did in the original work.

[Shortly after that, you didn't forget to capture Chelsea, Babara's last student. You made her surrender willingly and agree to become one of your women.]

[Like a perverted villain, you pounded her ass outdoors for hours on end. So perverted!]

"...."

Eiji sipped his tea, ignoring Miss System's taunts. Did that woman realize that when she said that part, she sounded excited?

Miss System was Netori System in disguise.

He had known this fact for a long time.

[I'm not that kind of system.]

Miss System denied it.

[Congratulations, host, you've obtained "Momonga's Red Orb."]

"...?"

Momonga? Eiji felt like he'd heard that name before.

This reward didn't seem all that great. He checked the description, and his hunch turned out to be right.

However, Eiji was a little surprised that Miss System had given him that orb. Could something like that really be considered a reward!?

Momonga's Red Orb is the temporary name for one of the World Items owned by Ainz Ooal Gown, the protagonist of Overlord.

And did you know? That man often uses that orb inside his stomach, which is clearly visible because he's an Undead.

Many people in the original work think that orb is Ainz's weakness, but they're actually wrong. It's simply an item that has the ability to make him even stronger as long as he wears it as an accessory. As one of the World Items, it's the most powerful and legendary item in the original work. The orb also has extremely high defense and is nearly impossible to destroy.

However, Eiji felt he might be able to destroy it. Of course, instead of destroying it, he might be able to give it to one of the women in his harem.

"Looking at it up close, this thing actually looks pretty cool."

Eiji took Momonga's Red Orb out of his inventory. The item was a reddish-glowing orb that radiated a terrifying aura.

With his perception, Eiji could sense that his power had increased by 3%. That number was small, but it was actually significant. Especially since the buff came from an item. If someone weaker than him were to use it, the buff they'd receive would certainly be greater.

Their power would also be highly effective against dragons. Miss System's description didn't say what the orb was made of.

Eiji wasn't particularly curious.

Still, since the reward he received was something originally owned by the protagonist—or rather, by someone else—

He forgot to ask how Miss System got it.

In a certain world.

The Great Tomb of Nazarick was shrouded in a majestic silence. Inside his magnificent private chamber, Ainz Ooal Gown, the protagonist of Overlord, stood before a massive mirror that reached the ceiling. An intricately designed, jet-black robe, trimmed with gold and purple. He removed his clothes, revealing his pure white, sturdy skeletal frame.

Naturally, his right hand, adorned with legendary rings, moved to touch the center of his abdomen. It was a subconscious habit. A small ritual to ensure that one of his sources of power remained in place. However, his bony fingers touched only empty air.

Ainz froze.

"Huh?"

A ridiculous sound escaped from his mouth, which didn't even have vocal cords. He looked down. Inside his abdominal cavity, where the red orb—the World Item—was supposed to be... there was now only emptiness.

The item had vanished.

"Wha... How is that possible?!"

Ainz's voice trembled, echoing off the walls of the silent room. He frantically felt around his abdominal cavity, clawing at his own ribs as if hoping the item had merely shifted and was hiding behind the shadows of his bones.

Nothing.

"Gone...? Momonga's Red Orb… gone?!"

Ainz took two steps back until his back hit the bedpost. His mind—that of Suzuki Satoru, an ordinary human and office worker from his previous life—immediately took over the common sense of his game character, who had come to life in the New World.

Cold sweat that couldn't escape his skeletal body felt as if it were flooding his entire being.

"Impossible. This shouldn't be possible. Did someone steal it? But who? Who could have breached Nazarick's security?!"

Ainz clutched his head with both hands. "Is this the work of the World Enemy? Or… or are other Players hiding in the New World?!"

If Eiji were there, he'd definitely be laughing.

Miss System actually stole the protagonist's item!

While Ainz was gripped by panic over a thief he couldn't detect, Eiji had already set the Astral Express in motion toward some destination.

From the outside, the train appeared to be moving and flying over the grasslands. Rail tracks glowing with starlight automatically materialized wherever the Astral Express moved.

In the sky, its silhouette glided through the clouds.

Many people in the city had been wondering what that thing was! Some of them even thought it was a super-class Danger Beast!

"Wow! We're really flying!"

"So this is what the view looks like from this height? Amazing..."

"The view from here is beautiful."

Poney, Tsukushi, and Cornelia remarked as they looked out the window. Akame almost pressed her face against the window; she gazed at the sea of clouds and the forest in the distance with a sparkle in her eyes.

Chelsea and Taeko were sitting across from each other. They glanced at the view outside the window from where they were sitting.

Eiji wasn't lying.

Something this big really could fly across the sky.

"The navigation system is on. Our next destination is a region beyond the Empire's borders."

From the control room, Eiji walked over and stood in the middle of the room, drawing the attention of all the women there.

Hearing that, Akame turned her head. "A region outside the Empire? What kind of target is there, Eiji-sama?"

"Who should we kill next?" Poney asked.

Chelsea and Taeko fell silent.

They couldn't help but think their master was pathetic. Unlike the two of them, she died at the hands of this group.

"He wasn't a target for assassination." Eiji replied with a faint, mysterious smile. "Our goal is an ancient tomb filled with treasures. That place is heavily guarded by guards who are quite strong for you guys."

He excluded himself because those guards were nothing to him.

He could kill them with just a single thought. Still, he didn't mention this so that Akame and the other women wouldn't lose their sense of tension.

Eiji also didn't immediately explain the true purpose of the journey, or what exactly they were after inside that ancient tomb.

"Treasure?" Pony's eyes lit up the moment she heard that word. She clenched her fists with excitement. "So our next mission is a treasure hunt? That sounds way more fun than a typical assassination mission!"

Cornelia smiled too and nodded in agreement. "An ancient tomb under heavy guard… hunting for treasure in a place like that is sure to require great physical strength. I'm ready to take out those guards if they get in our way."

She said that while wiping down her Shingu, Crushing King. She hadn't had a chance to clean it of dust and blood since yesterday's battle.

Chelsea, sitting on the sofa with a cup of tea in her hand, gave Eiji a flirtatious glance. "Treasure hunting abroad, huh? I guess with you around, my new life will never be boring, boss."

Only Tsukushi and Taeko remained silent, saying nothing.

However, none of them objected to explaining the next mission.

Even so, they were all mistaken. Eiji wasn't interested in any of the treasures hidden inside a king's tomb.

He glanced at Akame with a smile.

Akame blushed; she didn't know why Eiji had suddenly smiled at her. Was he trying to woo her!?

If that's the case, she's actually...

Poor Green. Akame wasn't even sad about his death anymore; she'd already easily developed feelings for another man.

That man was Eiji, of course.

[For now, I should let Akame enjoy the trip to our destination first. After that, I'll tell her the objective of our mission this time.]

So we misunderstood?

Hearing Eiji's inner voice, Chelsea realized that their guess was wrong. The objective of their mission this time seemed to have something to do with Akame.

Since Eiji hadn't told them yet, she didn't ask either.

...

The Astral Express was actually so fast that it could traverse a galaxy in no time.

But during the trip, Eiji adjusted its speed to match that of an airplane. He did that so Akame and the others could enjoy the scenery along the way.

It was like a sightseeing trip for them.

Two hours later.

They arrived at a city shrouded in sand. The surroundings alone reminded Eiji of Egypt.

After everyone got off the Astral Express, which was parked in the desert quite a distance from the town, Eiji put the vehicle back into his inventory.

"That's a really convenient ability." Chelsea remarked.

There was a hint of envy on her beautiful face. The other women had the same reaction.

"You'll be able to do the same thing in the future, too." Eiji said.

To be precise, he could ask Lala for some E-Dials later so that Chelsea and the others could store their belongings in another dimension.

Chelsea and the others misunderstood again. They thought Eiji could teach them how to do the same thing he did.

They were looking forward to it.

A few moments later.

With Rasiel's help, Eiji found a tavern. They went inside and headed up to the second floor. There, a bald man was sitting alone.

When he saw them arrive, he was startled. That was because he recognized Akame and the remaining members of the Elite Seven. However, that was strange.

He had clearly only instructed Gozuki to meet him alone via a secret message.

Bill, the leader of another Imperial assassin division, the Group of Terror, didn't know that Gozuki was already dead. He also didn't know that his secret message had never been read at all.

Eiji came there purely because he knew that in the original work, Bill was the leader of the group that included Kurome.

"You guys... Akame? Cornelia?" Bill set his glass down so roughly that some of the liquid spilled. "How did you guys end up here?"

He looked utterly shocked. He stood up from his chair, staring at them in disbelief. "I'm sure the secret message I sent last night was addressed directly to Gozuki. I asked him to come to this city to bring reinforcements from the Elite Seven!"

"That's why we're here." Eiji said casually.

Without hesitation, he also pulled up a chair and sat down in front of Bill. Akame, Cornelia, Poney, Tsukushi, Taeko, and Chelsea stood behind him.

Anyone could see that those beautiful women were under Eiji's command.

"Who are you? Young man, don't you know who I am? How dare you speak so casually to me."

Bill sat back down, glaring sharply at the white-haired young man in front of him.

"You're Bill, the leader of the Group of Terror. I'm Eiji, the new leader of the Elite Seven." Eiji wasn't intimidated by the bald man in front of him.

In his eyes, the man was just an NPC whose presence was necessary to help him keep up the act.

"What? How is that possible!?"

Bill couldn't believe what he was hearing. He laughed cynically before saying, "Don't brag! Gozuki is a man who is deeply loyal to the Empire. There's no way he'd give up his position to a stranger like you?!"

Chelsea narrowed her eyes; Taeko gripped the hilt of her sword. They wanted to beat up the bald man.

Akame and the other women also glared at Bill. Bill was confused by their reaction.

Setting aside Chelsea and Taeko, whom he didn't know, But Akame and the others were supposed to be loyal to Gozuki because of the brainwashing they'd been subjected to. However, now they weren't backing up his words.

The young women continued to stand behind Eiji and appeared obedient to him.

Is that true?

Is Gozuki handing over his position to a stranger he doesn't even know!?

Before Bill could ask any further questions, Eiji was too lazy to argue with him. So, he crossed his moral line. Bill was just an NPC; he didn't hesitate to activate his Mangekyou Sharingan and cast a genjutsu on him.

"!"

Bill was stunned when his gaze met Eiji's pair of red eyes with their strange patterns.

"Stranger? It seems you've missed the news about me. Let me tell you my other identity. I am the Heir to the Empire."

Eiji said indifferently.

A moment later, Bill blinked several times. Cold sweat trickled down his temples, and his gaze, which had been full of hostility, now turned to submission.

"Heir to the Empire? Eiji? So it's you! F-Forgive my presumption…" said Bill, his voice suddenly trembling with respect as he bowed his head deeply before Eiji. "I've misunderstood you."

Akame, Cornelia, and the other women were confused.

This bald man suddenly recognized Eiji's identity and treated him with respect.

That's strange.

"Now, tell us what happened to your group." Eiji got straight to the point.

Bill didn't hesitate to say, "I requested backup from the Elite Seven because many of my members had already been killed on previous missions—casualties were unavoidable... But on this mission… we, we failed completely."

He looked embarrassed at that moment.

Akame furrowed her brow; she had a bad feeling. After all, she knew Kurome was in the group led by the bald man standing in front of her.

Bill clenched his fist on the table; frustration was clearly visible on his face. "Those unknown enemies guarding the tomb... they're too strong. The rest of my men were slaughtered; the status of some is unknown, and worse yet... According to the testimony of my surviving members, Kurome was captured by them."

"!!!"

Hearing her younger sister's name mentioned, Akame's body tensed instantly. Her hand reflexively reached for the hilt of Kiriichimonji, but her pair of red eyes immediately glanced toward Eiji, waiting for his instructions.

Eiji was impressed by Akame's self-control. She didn't yell angrily at Bill, or even blame him for what happened to Kurome.

In this situation, it seemed she was still waiting for orders from him.

As expected of his future wife.